Menagerie

People have often formed strong connections to books that they first encountered as children. The strength of the connection may have evolved from the feel of the binding, paper, the texture of the ink on the page or even the smell of the volume. Many people’s first experience with a book might have been looking at the pages while being read to by a family member. With the emergence of e-books will parents or guardians now read from an electronic device to children? Would this evoke the same response to these books? This piece uses a found part of a children’s toy and turns it into a library. The 60 miniature books housed in the bookcase are bound in bright colored paste paper made by Joelle Webber mimicking the bright colors on the toy. About the size of an e-reader the physical properties of the case, paper, text pages and the ability to organize and play with the books can create a connection to the piece that an electronic device would be unlikely to inspire.